What is the President's Actual Strategy To Defeat ISIS?

Capt Walter Miller — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 16:58:34 -0500

"...Now Obama is in the unenviable position of championing a strategy that even he admits could take years to work, and could be marked by significant setbacks and more terrorist attacks like those in Paris.
“The strategy that we are putting forward is the strategy that is ultimately going to work,” the president told reporters Monday. “But as I said from the start, it is going to take time.”
The story of how Obama landed on his approach is one of a president who campaigned for reelection on a promise to end America’s wars and came to office with other pressing priorities, such as reaching an agreement that would prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
He was deeply skeptical that U.S. military power could produce lasting political change in the Middle East and heavily influenced by the steep costs and heavy casualties that America suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan to achieve only mixed results.
In the early days of the Syrian civil war, Obama rejected proposals from his top national security advisers at the time, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and CIA Director David H. Petraeus, to arm rebels fighting the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
To Obama, the rebels’ chances looked bleak. They were a collection of “former doctors, farmers, [and] pharmacists,” he said, facing off against a well-equipped Syrian military that also had the support of battle-hardened Hezbollah forces.
Early proposals for a no-fly zone that would have grounded Assad’s jets and attack helicopters were also dismissed as too costly. Martin Dempsey, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, estimated that maintaining a no-fly zone would cost as much as $1 billion a year and put the U.S. military into direct conflict with Assad and his Iranian backers.
Senior White House officials have countered that the president’s critics vastly overestimate the capacity of American military power to stem chaos caused by decades of misrule and the collapse of repressive governments throughout the Middle East.
To illustrate that point, Obama on Monday described the problems of establishing a no-fly zone or a safe area for moderate rebels in northern Syria. Such a measure recently received the support of Clinton, Obama’s former secretary of state and the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“Who would come in and who would come out of that safe zone?” Obama asked. “Would it become a magnet for terrorist attacks, and how many personnel would be required” to safeguard it?
Most pointedly, Obama, who has tried to set hard time limits on U.S. military commitments, wondered if American forces would be required to police it indefinitely.
…
The net result is a strategy that offers little immediate satisfaction. For now, one of its biggest selling points is that it largely keeps American soldiers and Marines out of harm’s way.
“This is not an abstraction,” Obama said in defense of his approach. “When we send troops in, those troops get injured, they get killed, they’re away from their families. . . . And so, given the fact that there are enormous sacrifices involved in any military action, it’s best that we don’t shoot first and aim later.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-defends-his-strategy-against-the-islamic-state-saying-it-will-take-time/2015/11/16/bf938224-8c8d-11e5-ae1f-af46b7df8483_story.html

Obama defends his strategy against the Islamic State, saying it will ‘take time’

The president responds to questions, prompted by the Paris attacks, that he miscalculated on the militant group.

Response by Cpl Shane Cunningham made Nov 17 at 2015 5:07 PM

Cpl Shane Cunningham — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 17:07:57 -0500

So we wait until an attack on American soil? Great...

Response by 1stSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2015 5:13 PM

1stSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 17:13:42 -0500

Who knows. I don't even think he knows.

Response by COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM made Nov 17 at 2015 5:55 PM

COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 17:55:44 -0500

A few thoughts:
- Saying that one has a strategy does not mean that one actually has a strategy.
- Normally a strategic strategy is written so that it can integrate and synchronize the sources of national power (DIME). An example is the US National Security Strategy. I have never seen one official or reporter who could point to a document and say "this is the US Strategy to defeat ISIL".
- Bombing ISIL is a tactic and not a strategy. A strategy can win a war but a tactic never will.
- One can not solve a problem is one is not willing to admit there is a problem. The specific words are "Radical Islamists". These words do not imply a war on Islam but rather a war on people who are willing to kill and use terrorism to achieve their political ends.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Nov 17 at 2015 6:15 PM

Capt Seid Waddell — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 18:15:37 -0500

Delay and hand the problem off to his replacement.

Response by SSG Warren Swan made Nov 17 at 2015 6:24 PM

SSG Warren Swan — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 18:24:47 -0500

Once people realize that we need to go to war with our minds vs. their minds in an all out assault against the idea of radical Islam, we'll get somewhere. 14 years of using every munition known to man, and where are we again? He and his "advisers" need to get over the whole "wack a mole" approach we're doing, and launch a coordinated assault against the "false Prophets" that use the Koran as a weapon instead of a religious book. You cannot "kill" a idea or belief, but you can CHANGE the narrative of it, and then make change through other means. You could send let's say seven heavy divisions (if we had them) over there with the goal of "wiping the slate clean", and they would do one hell of a great job. But all they've done is amass one big body count, and when they leave, it's business as usual. Change the mindset, change the outcome. Has anyone seen ISIS not make their recruitment quota over the last few years? And they are not giving enlistment bonuses either.

Response by MSgt James Mullis made Nov 17 at 2015 6:29 PM

MSgt James Mullis — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 18:29:38 -0500

After reading the article my understanding is that his strategy is to slowly degrade their capabilities and reduce the amount of territory they control through a slow campaign of precision bombing and limited ground strikes. The fatal flaw in this semi-active strategy is the belief that limited strikes in two countries will somehow degrade Islamic State capabilities around the world. This is a classical example of "Magical Thinking". It ignores the fact that the Islamic State and its subsidiaries are active and recruiting throughout the world. If things become too hot in one location their multinational forces flow into another area and continue working toward the same goal. The other item he is ignoring is the current Islamic States slash and burn (kill the infidels) policy. If we ever do kick them out of Syria and Iraq, there will be no one left to return it to, just the supporters of the Islamic State. Now that's a strategy that will work.

Response by SSgt Alex Robinson made Nov 17 at 2015 6:52 PM

SSgt Alex Robinson — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 18:52:37 -0500

He has none unless it's to talk them to death and we know they don't want to talk...

Response by SGT Jerrold Pesz made Nov 17 at 2015 6:54 PM

SGT Jerrold Pesz — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 18:54:02 -0500

I don't believe that he has a strategy to defeat ISIS. I am not even sure that he wants to. As long as we refuse to even name the enemy it is probably impossible anyway.

Response by SFC Maury Gonzalez made Nov 17 at 2015 6:58 PM

SFC Maury Gonzalez — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 18:58:45 -0500

XOXO and jobs at Walmart

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 17 at 2015 8:20 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 20:20:57 -0500

Cookies and milk? Maybe a friendly chat? Hahaha

Response by SFC Brian Ewing made Nov 19 at 2015 12:25 PM

SFC Brian Ewing — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 12:25:10 -0500

He doesn't even refer to them as ISIS, he refers to them as ISIL and there is a specific reason for that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfYeylQX_DI

Obama says ISIL, not ISIS, SHOCKING reason why

“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3 In one press c...

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Dec 1 at 2015 1:49 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 13:49:50 -0500

Train the Iraqis to fight as grunts.

Response by SPC Andrew Griffin made Dec 7 at 2015 2:56 PM

SPC Andrew Griffin — Mon, 07 Dec 2015 14:56:47 -0500

As much RESPECT as I have for our President! I'm not sure he has one! I have to ADMIT that!